Sons of Liberty
by turbomagnus
Summary: With the addition of Kitty, the Brotherhood is stronger than ever, but enemies have begun moving, gathering their forces. Their only hope for survival may be to accept Nick Fury's offer and become what they once feared. Sequel to 'Joyride Reversed'.
1. Sons of Liberty pt 1

Disclaimer; In a perfect world, I would own X-Men Evolution and be making money from it... and Celebrity Deathmatch would still be on the air with the original voice actors for Nick and Johnny, Debbie doing the interviews and Stone Cold would've replaced Mills after his real life heart attack... Sadly, CDM was cancelled, given a revival that failed, and was cancelled again, meaning this is not a perfect world and thus X-Men Evolution and any mainstream characters that may appear within are the property of Marvel comics and no profit is being made from their usage.

Author's Note; Certain aspects of this story, such as Kitty's presence with the Brotherhood and the capture of the New Mutants by the military are based on events in my previous story "Joyride Reversed", if you become confused I recommend you read that first and then return to this story.

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><p>"Sons of Liberty"<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

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><p>Brotherhood Boarding House,<br>Bayville, New York.  
>Morning.<p>

The Brotherhood stood crowded in the doorway between kitchen and living room, staring at the uninvited occupant of their kitchen table.

"Whatta ya kids starin' at," Colonel Nick Fury grumbled over the cup of coffee sitting in front of him, "Never had a visitor before?"

Todd folded his arms, "Never had you for a visitor, yo."

Pietro looked at Todd strangely, "You know this guy, Toad?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Todd answered, "Before Mystique found me I was picking pockets in New York, yo. One day I picked this guy's pocket and instead of a wallet got an id; 'SHIELD, Colonel Nicholas Fury, Director.' I froze up and about two seconds later I got caught with it in my hands... and he took it back and let me go."

Fury chuckled, "Ya should feel good about it, kid, you're th' only person who ever managed that little trick on me an' a lot of people wish they could."

Kitty shook her head and sighed, "Where do we start; who are you, what's 'Shield', why are you in our home, why did you let Todd go... I'm sure if you give me a second I can think of more questions."

Secretly pleased at her refering to the Brotherhood house as home, Lance put a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, "How about the immediate problem, why are you here?"

Fury took a drink of coffee and grimaced, "Let's save that one fer last, huh? I let your friend go back then 'cause him managin' ta pull that off impressed me an' takin' him ta the cops wouldn't've done either of us any good. Me? Like he said, Colonel Nick Fury, technically U.S. Army, but I've been running SHIELD so long that's what most folks think of me as. SHIELD's short for 'Strategic Hazard Intervention and Espionage Logistics Directorate'. Means we keep an eye on people an' stop 'em from turnin' little problems into big ones, which is why I'm here. We've gotta problem."

"Tell it to someone who cares, soldier," Lance shook his head, "You just said problems are your business, you handle it."

"I would, but it's your problem too," Fury countered, "Let's lay it all out; you're mutants; fine, I've known Logan almost sixty years, mutants are the least'a my concerns compared ta what's already out there. You're the kind who do whatever it takes to win, so ya don't get along with Mister Nice Guy up the road; hell, that makes ya my kind'a people. Let me tell ya about a guy; Colonel Bolivar Trask, former SHIELD agent, two doctorates... oh, yeah, an' he thinks that metahumans in general an' mutants in particular should be 'policed' for the good of humanity."

"Shades of the Third Reich," Kitty muttered with a shiver, thinking of her grandfather, causing Lance to move and put his arms around her.

"You an' me both, kid," Fury agreed, "I've already had ta fight one war like that, I'm in no mood fer another. That attitude got 'im kicked out of SHIELD, but unfortunately he's got friends in high places that don't think he's wrong an' he went underground."

"While the history lesson's sure interesting and all... what's this got to do with us?" Todd asked, slipping past the others to pull out a chair and spin it around to sit in it backwards.

"Last night, some'a Xavier's kids decided ta take that jet'a their's on a joyride... Damn fools crossed into military airspace an' got brought down... when Trask heard about it..."

"He asks his buddies for them," Tabby finished.

Fury nodded with a frown, "Right. I don't know what he wants with them, but I do know it's not goin' be good fer anyone, mutant or human."

"So, uh, why don't you take him down, take him out, whatever you do?" Fred asked, entering the kitchen as well.

"He said the guy was a former SHIELD agent," Pietro answered, speeding into the kitchen and leaning against a wall, "What do you want to bet he's still got friends there who'd tell him the second something happened?"

"Sucker's bet," Fury scoffed, "We've already caught one'a his boys sending him classified information, who knows how many others there are. An' I'm not going to Xavier since I know what he'd do, he'd try ta talk ta 'im an' end up gettin' captured himself, we're trying ta get prisoners away from Trask, not give him more."

"So you came to us," Tabby raised an eyebrow, sliding past the couple to leave them the only ones in the doorway, "Because we're 'the kind who do whatever it takes to win'?"

The SHIELD director snorted, "I prefer the term 'realists'. Xavier's dream's a good one, but the odds of it happening without a whole lot of trouble are about the same as me dancing a jig down Broadway wearing a pink tutu. You aren't out to rule the world, you're not trying to be everyone's best friends, you're just trying to survive with what ya got, believe it or not I can respect that."

"So what's in it for us?" Pietro asked.

Fury gave him a hard look, "Ya mean besides the fact that whatever Trask's got planned will involve you sooner or later... a lot sooner if he interrogates those kids an' they lead him here."

Despite the falling-out with most of the X-Men, Kitty still wanted to think she had friends at the Institute, "Who... who does he have?"

Reaching into one of his uniform pockets, Fury pulled out a PDA, "Three of the newer students... Samuel Guthrie..."

"Sammy," Tabby winced.

"Robert Drake..."

"Bobby..." Kitty groaned.

"An'... Jubilation Lee?" Fury frowned, "Name like that, gotta feel sorry fer th' kid."

"Bobby and Jubes I can see doing something like this," Kitty groaned, "But Sam?"

"I believe it," Tabby replied, "Farm boy suddenly not having to get up at dawn and do chores, support his brothers and sisters, all that extra energy... he was bound to get in trouble, I'm just disappointed he couldn't have done it while I was still at Geek Central so I could've helped."

"Got to admit," Lance added, "Part of me would love to see the expressions on Summers' and the rest of their faces when we show up with their rescued friends."

Pietro remained skeptical, "You really expect us to take on the army and win?"

"Not in a straight fight," Fury developed a wolfish grin, "But ya don't do straight fights anyway, do ya? I might havta keep SHIELD outta it ta keep Trask in the dark, but I can make sure that any equipment we've got ya need, ya get. Now, ya in or out?"


	2. Sons of Liberty pt 2

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution, any characters from it or Marvel's '616' mainstream that may appear, I'm not making money off of them... I don't even have a witty remark today, to be honest.

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><p>"Sons of Liberty"<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

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><p>SHIELD Safehouse<br>Manhattan Island, New York.  
>Afternoon.<p>

"Nice," Lance remarked approvingly, looking at the new uniform he now wore courtesy of SHIELD; a deep blue sleeveless jumpsuit with dark red on the outside of the legs and the sides of the torso, protective arm and leg guards and a visor to replace his old helmet, "I could get used to this..."

"I know what you mean," Kitty answered, missing the look on his face as she spun around to show off her own new uniform; coloured the same shade of blue and midriff-baring, but with long sleeves; a pouch belt, another pouch strapped to her thigh and gloves all in a dark brown completed the outfit, "I guess the best way I can think of to say it is I don't feel like a kid anymore."

A scoff came from nearby, "We haven't been kids since Magneto and the Professor recruited us for this secret war of theirs, if that long."

Kitty and Lance turned to look at Tabby as she walked into the room, newly dressed in a uniform similar to Kitty's own but with short sleeves.

"Yeah, I know," Kitty agreed, "I got bullied back home just for being a smart human, I can just imagine how they'd have treated me if they knew about mutants. I don't agree with Magneto about ruling humans... but I don't completely agree with the Professor either to be honest, I know better..."

Lance reached out and rubbed her shoulder, "Hey, don't worry. While old Bucket-head and Baldy are fighting each other, we just swoop in and save the day for everyone..."

"Planning on playing the hero, Lance?" Kitty teased, "You're sure you wouldn't rather go back to stealing test answers?"

"What can I say?" The geokinetic shrugged, "You do strange things to me."

"Hey, yo, not in front of the tadpoles!" Todd's voice came from the doorway as he hopped into view, wearing a blue jumpsuit of his own with knee, elbow and shoulder pads, "Fury wants us in the sub-basement, yo."

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><p>"Glad ya could join us, finally," Fury remarked as the four entered a room that could've been the boardroom of any Fortune 500 company in the world, complete with a sidetable furnished with pastries and coffee, "Pull up some chairs an' pay attention."<p>

"That means to him and not your 'Pretty Kitty', Lance," Pietro teased from where he was kicked back with his feet up on the conference table. Like the others, the speedster wore a new uniform, divided in half from his left shoulder to right hip with a lightning bolt design, the lower half was the same dark blue as the others wore while the upper portion was the ice blue shade from his old uniform, unlike the others though his accessories were standard SHIELD white.

"Hey, these are good cinnamon buns, where'd you find them, Sarge?" Fred asked from the position he had claimed near the sidetable. His new outfit was the least changed of them all, dark blue pants and a black tank-top styled much like his civilian clothes.

"Trapani's Bakery in Little Italy," Fury answered, rolling his eyes, "Now, we gonna get this briefing started or should I jus' find someone else ta do this?"

Kitty blushed as Lance pulled out her chair for her and they sat down side by side, "Sorry, Colonel."

"Eh, forget about it," Fury waved a hand, as Todd and Tabitha took their own seats, "Seen too many too-serious burnouts ta have a problem wi' agents staying loose before a mission."

"We're not your 'agents' yet, Fury," Lance reminded him firmly, "First we do this, then we go from there, that's the agreement. So, like you said, let's get this briefing started..."

"Somebody kill the lights..." Fury suddenly hit Tabitha with a firm glare before the blond could create one of her trademark time-bombs, "With the switch."

"Why don't I take care o' tha' for ye, Nicky-me-boy?" An Irish lilt answered as a reddish-blond haired man in his mid-thirties wearing a SHIELD uniform that seemed to have fabric connecting the arms and torso entered the room.

Fury gave an approving nod, "Irish, good, you're jus' in time. Team, this is Special Agent Sean Cassidy, he'll be providing ya with support on this mission. That means if he tells you something's a bad idea an' you're fool enough ta do it anyway, it's your heads."

"Tha's for sure and certain," Sean agreed, "Nicky there's nae payin' me enough ta be a babysitter, so you'll have ta wipe your own noses."

"If that's how you feel, just stay out of our way," Fred challenged, taking a step forward, "We'll do this ourselves without any Scottish jerks."

"He said he's Irish, yo," Todd remarked as Sean growled at Fred.

"That's enough!" Fury's voice echoed in the room, "Dukes, drop it. Irish, you get the lights an' then sit your ass down."

"Yeah, right," Fred muttered as he took a step back and picked up another pastry.

"Whatever ye say, Nick," Sean shrugged as he reached out a hand and flipped the lightswitch, plunging the room into darkness, "Ye're th' one in charge o' this wee cavalcade of whimsy."

The wall behind Fury opened up to review a large display showing a military base, "Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, officially decommissioned an' turned over ta the National Park Service roughly five years ago..."

The image changed to display the blueprints for a multi-story underground facility, "What isn't official knowledge is that up 'til 'bout ten years before that, the fort was the site of a top secret installation. The facility was believed destroyed in a cave-in caused by a terrorist attack an' written off. Problem is, everything we've done ta trace Trask leads ta Fort Wadsworth, which means there's a chance the facility isn't as destroyed as we thought."

"Woah, never heard about no terrorist attack on Staten, yo," Todd broke in.

Fury looked at him in the light from the screen, "There's a lot of things that civilians never hear about that ya will now, kid. Now, can I continue? Good. Last night, a SHIELD agent assigned ta keep an eye on Wadsworth reported the arrival of a mail truck ta the fort. By itself, that would barely be out of place, even park rangers get mail, but it was being driven by armed military personnel an' not the Postal Service an' they unloaded their prisoners where they could be seen, looks like security is sloppy..."

"Or a trap," Lance folded his arms.

"Right," Fury agreed, "An' ya don't get to be no colonel an' a doctor twice-over by being sloppy, so the smart bet's on a trap."

"So do we avoid it or spring it?" Lance asked, causing Fury to smirk.

'Kid has potential, he's asking all the right questions,' Fury thought before he answered, "That's what ya need ta decide. Springing it will get ya to 'em faster, but you'll be prisoners as well; going around it means you'll be free ta work, but you'll have ta first get ta the others before ya can get 'em out."

Lance glanced around the room, even though he knew he couldn't be seen that well, "What do you guys think?"

"I do nae care what ye've seen in shows," Sean stated firmly, "Only a damned fool tries ta free prisoners by letting themself get captured too."

"Any way we can force them to evacuate? Maybe they'll leave Sam and the others behind," Tabby suggested.

"Or they take them with them and then we won't even know where they're at," Pietro countered, "Blowing stuff up isn't the answer to everything, Boom-Boom."

"It's worked for me so far," Tabby shot back, "What do you suggest, then, Speedy?"

Quicksilver shrugged and put his hands behind his head, "I go in alone, in and out, no one can catch the Quicksilver."

"Except there's one of you who'd have to carry three of them and we don't know what kind of security this guy's got that you'd have to avoid," Kitty pointed out, "Do we know where he'd be keeping them?"

'Another good one,' Fury nodded, pointing to the blueprints, "Best guess would be either the labs or the brig, both of which are here, on the fifth level."

Kitty looked at the blueprints and frowned, "What's that in the corner? 'Altemeresc'?"

Fury looked where she had indicated, "Alternate Emergency Escape. Supposed ta be a back way out in case the upper floors are compromised."

"Well, if it's a back way out, then it's a back way in, isn't it?" Kitty asked.

Lance reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze with a smile, "Well, we've got our door... now we just need to figure out how to open it."

"Leave that to me, yo," Todd's chest puffed up with pride.

"Really, boyo?" Sean's tone reinforced the disbelief in his words.

Todd glared at the SHIELD agent, "Hey, I go through security systems just to keep active, ask Kat-girl over there how often I slip through Baldy's... If I hadn't froze up on seeing his ID, I would've picked Patch there's pocket without getting caught, why'd you think Fury recruited us for this?"

"Oh, I do nae know," Sean folded his arms, "Decided tha' since everyone else was playin' with th' kiddies, he'd get his own group, maybe?"

"That's enough, Banshee!" Fury stormed, "I don't care if ya don't think you're a team player, this time ya don't have a choice - ya either work with them or else, an' ya know me well enough ta know ya don't want ta know what 'or else' means."

Fred scratched his head in confusion, "Banshee?"

"Aye," Sean replied, "They call me a banshee because I sing like one; in battle, a' least. What? Ye did nae think ye and yers up there were th' only mutants about, did ye?"

The Brotherhood stared for a moment before Tabby spoke for them all, "Well, yeah, kinda."

Banshee sighed, "Bloody arrogant tossers, ain't ye? So yer plannin' ta send th' frog down th' escape hatch, what about th' rest o' us?"

Lance looked over at Fury, "You want this place left standing or should we have fun?"

Fury pulled out a chair at the head of the table and sat down, sillhouetted by the screen behind him, "Normally we'd keep it intact ta see what we can get out of it, but with SHIELD compromised anything we get might find its way back ta Trask, something we don't need happening, so... use yer imaginations."

Tabby grinned at Pietro, "And you thought I wouldn't get to blow stuff up."


	3. Sons of Liberty pt 3

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution, the '616'-mainstream, or any version of any Marvel characters that appear nor am I making money by writing this story.

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><p>"Sons of Liberty"<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

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><p>Fort Wadsworth perimeter<br>Staten Island, New York  
>That night.<p>

"Remember," Avalanche said, crouched down in the shadows, "Blob, Boom-Boom, keep out of sight. We'll need you to clear us a way out when it's time to leave. The rest of us are going to try and make our way in using the 'back door'. If something happens once we have the others, Banshee and Quicksilver, your job's to get them out of there, don't worry about the rest of us. Everybody got it? Good."

"I don't get it," Toad quipped.

"Not now, Froggy," Boom-Boom groaned, "I can't believe I'm sitting out our first big mission."

"Believe ye me, Lass," Banshee remarked, "If this all goes tits-up, ye'll be wishing ye were sittin' it out."

Boom-Boom glared at the Irishman, "Aren't you a little old to be checking me out?"

Banshee groaned, "I was nae checkin' ye out, it means... Ah, never mind... Bloody Yanks... This gets over with, I'll be gettin' so pissed I'll nae wake up for a week..."

"Boom-Boom, behave," Avalanche sighed, "At least until we need a way out, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Rocky," Boom-Boom faked a yawn, "I'll just be waiting out here, bored to tears until then."

"Let's just hope you stay bored, Boomer," Shadowcat told the other girl, "Because that means we haven't gotten into serious trouble."

"Come on, let's go," Blob grumbled, "It's not easy to keep a guy my size hidden for long."

"Right, right," Avalanche answered before turning to another member of the team, "Toad? Go."

"Right-o," Toad remarked in amusement, "Watch the bouncing froggy, it's the amazing acrobatic Toad!"

Taking a running start, Toad leapt over the fence, flipping and half-twisting in mid-air so that he was hands-down as he approached the ground on the other side. Doing a quick handspring as soon as the ground was in reach, he landed feet-first on the side of the former heavy machinery building and went into a crouch.

"Where's the 'Mission: Impossible' theme when you need it?" Toad muttered softly to himself as he looked around to make sure the area was clear, then gave the signal for the others to follow.

"We're next," Avalanche looked at Shadowcat and Quicksilver before turning to the last member of the infiltration team, "Banshee, you follow when we give the signal."

"Right," the older mutant rolled his eyes, "What do I need ta look for, ye pickin' yer nose or scratchin' yer bums?"

Avalanche glared at him, "I don't know what your problem is, and really? I just don't care... but if you screw this up, I'll do my best to make sure you're the first one caught, you get me?"

"Whatever ye say, lad," Banshee cocked an eyebrow, "Yer Fury's new boy after all."

Avalanche was about to demand an explanation when Shadowcat slid an arm around his neck, causing him to look at her.

"You can get all alpha male later, handsome, we need to go now," Shadowcat insisted as she took hold of Quicksilver's hand.

Avalanche took a deep breath and focused, "You're right, Pretty Kitty... later."

Sliding one arm around his girlfriend's waist and taking Quicksilver's free hand with his other hand, the team leader asked, "Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"Sure?" Shadowcat giggled slightly, "Nope. But we've got a good feeling about it."

Avalanche closed his eyes tight, "Make it fast."

"Hey, I'm the Quicksilver, everything I do is fast," the speedster remarked before taking off towards the fence, dragging his teammates behind him.

As they reached the fence, Shadowcat used her ability to turn intangible and take anyone touching her with her to let them move through the barrier's very molecules. Once through the fence, she released her powers as Quicksilver slowed down and the three let go of each other to crouch in the shadows cast by the heavy machinery building.

"Ten years with Interpol, half tha' again with SHIELD... an' I'm still watchin' th' kids on a bloody play-date," Banshee muttered to himself as he lifted into the air and glided over the fence.

Banshee looked around as he landed among the group, "So, where's th' entrance?"

Shadowcat pulled a small PDA out of her hip pouch, "About twenty feet that way."

Avalanche groaned softly as he looked in the direction she had indicated, "Under the water-tower?"

As she slipped the PDA back into its pouch, Shadowcat shook her head, "They must have rearranged some of the surface structures after the base was decommissioned."

"Well, tha's bloody grand."

"He's right, yo," Toad added from above the others, "That means we gotta get through the guards and we can't use a distraction cause we'll need it later."

"It's more than that, Toad," Shadowcat sighed, "This map came off the SHIELD database, which means that whoever Trask has in SHIELD altered the files."

"So we're gonna have to assume they know we're coming," Avalanche concluded.

Quicksilver folded his arms, "Well, this is going to be such fun..."

"Hey, think of it as an opportunity, yo," Toad remarked quietly.

"We've got to get you away from Boom-Boom more often," Avalanche groaned softly, "You think you can get from here to the water tower without getting caught... or blowing anything up?"

"Yo," Toad answered, "Does Kermit have a thing for Ms. Piggy?"

Without another word, Toad scuttled along the side of the building and around the corner.

'Two guards on patrol and one at the water tower, one little toad on the side of a building and a cold, damp night... easy for somebody to slip on some wet grass, yo...' Toad thought, 'But that would leave slime for them to find, what to do, what to do, what for a little toad to do...'

'One guard at a post,' Toad continued in his head, 'That's what Morty would call shoddy, very shoddy. Three guards is good, two is standard, one is asking for trouble... and in this case they're asking with flashing lights and sirens, yo...'

Pulling himself into a crouching position against the side of the building, Toad took a series of deep breaths. Kicking out, he launched himself out into the air, heading towards the water tower. As he flew through the air in a controlled tumble, Toad reached out with his hands and easily caught a rod extending from the top of the water tower, spinning around it like a trapeze artist before he curled up to place his feet against it. The boots he wore had special soles that allowed his feet to grip surfaces through them without a problem, freeing his hands to reach for the edge of the water tower. With a gentle push of his feet, Toad flipped over and landed with his hands behind his head and feet on the side of the water tower before he slowly turned around so that he was facing it.

'Just like sneaking into Coney after close, yo,' Toad chuckled mentally as he climbed down until he was hanging from the frame between the watertower's legs, 'Only not quite the same challenge.'

Just like as if it were a jungle gym, Toad crawled through the support struts and across the underside of the water tower until he was above and slightly behind the guard. Here he waited for a moment as the two rovers passed by.

'No talkin' or nothin',' Toad thought as they moved out of sight, 'Means they'd never know that a guard's been replaced or...'

Carefully, he threaded his way to the outside of the water tower so that he was just above the guard to his blind side. Letting go with his feet so that he was hanging with his hands, the acrobatic mutant released himself and dropped to the ground with an audible sound, causing the single guard to turn around.

In a Cockney accent he'd learned from his old teacher, Toad remarked, "'Scuse me, this your brain?"

Before the guard could react, Toad hopped into the air and unleashed a kick that caused the guard's head to snap back. A midair twist brought his other leg up to knock the guard's head against the water tower leg and knock him out.

"Showy, yeah, but effective," Toad muttered to himself as he lifted the guard up to lean against the tower leg that had knocked him out, "And you need a diet, yo."

Summoning up a load of adhesive slime, Toad spat it between the guard's back and the wooden leg, securing him in that position.

Toad nodded at his handiwork, "Now just need to get the others over here..."


	4. Sons of Liberty pt 4

Disclaimer: Marvel owns X-Men Evolution and the 616-mainstream, if any money was being made from this fic - which it's not - they'd get it, not me. The only way I'd get to make money off of my fanfics would be if Marvel or whoever owns the right to whatever fandom were to authorise and publish my writing, and that's not as easy as some people think...

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><p>"Sons of Liberty"<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

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><p>Fort Wadsworth Army Base<br>Staten Island, New York  
>Underground Military Facility<p>

Whether through complacency or arrogance, Trask's personnel hadn't changed anything about the Alternate Emergency Escape, allowing the team easy access into the depths of the facility hidden underneath Fort Wadsworth.

"I'm a little disappointed, yo," Toad looked around as he joined the rest of the team at the bottom of the ladder, "I was expecting something like dark and dreary evil overlord or ultra-clean sci-fi futuristic for the decor... almost normal here... well, for a secret military base under the control of genocidal renegades."

"Yer just full o' sunshine an' good times, aren't ye, lad?" Banshee shook his head.

"I have to be," Toad answered, "Otherwise I might end up like you, yo."

Shadowcat rolled her eyes, "Play later, Toad, maybe we'll let you loose on the Institute to make a point."

"Hey, I can get in there anyway, yo," Toad countered.

"With someone on the inside willing to help you cause trouble for the rest of them?" Shadowcat asked, "Because I know one of the others would be up for it..."

"Now you're talking, Kat-girl," Toad did a backflip, "Yo, can't wait to get this done and have some fun!"

"If ye're finished actin' like a kettle full o' boilin' water, lad?"

"Yo, you can't speak good English or something?" Toad grumbled at the Irishman.

"From kettle ta pot," Banshee muttered, "Dinnae we 'ave a rescue ta perform?"

"Yeah, we do," Avalanche shot over his shoulder from where he and Shadowcat were looking over her PDA, "So if you'd shut up we could get on with it. Kitten, do you have to egg them on?"

Shadowcat tilted her head towards them and made a soft 'schnikt' sound. Avalanche understood then, intangibility might be Shadowcat's power, but learning was her natural talent and for all he'd claim otherwise, Wolverine was a skilled teacher in his own way. Avalanche understood she was testing Banshee the same way Wolverine would if he were there; where he'd break, why, did he lose his temper in a rage or go cold.

He had a feeling that Wolverine would be proud of her.

"Does it really matter?" Shadowcat answered as though she hadn't done so silently, "Now that we're in we've got more problems to deal with. From the looks of the blueprints, the floor ahead of us is covered with a security system to keep people from doing what we're doing... and the panel to turn them off is on the other side of them."

"Tha's nae problem," Banshee scoffed, "I dinnae know if ye've forgotten or nae, lass, but I can fly."

Shadowcat turned to glare at him, "The network extends up the walls, so unless you can know where each beam is, I doubt it'd do any good."

Quicksilver gave a low whistle, "Man, talk about not wanting any uninvited guests. What's next, robotic death machines?"

"Hey, yo," Toad complained, "Don't go giving them no ideas, Quickie."

"So, if we cannae walk an' cannae fly, what do ye suppose we do?" Banshee asked.

"I could try phasing through them," Shadowcat looked at the floor ahead of them.

"Sure ye could, lass," Banshee answered, "Excepting we dinnae know what kind o' effect ye'll have on 'em, meanin' ye could set 'em off just like th' rest o' us."

"He's got a point," Avalanche reluctantly agreed, "Toad, can you take the high road and take out those beams."

"Heh, and I thought you were going to ask me to do something hard, yo," Toad said, jumping up to his hands and knees on the ceiling and crawling over the infrared detection system.

"An' how did ye know there wasnae anything on th' bloody ceilin' itself?" Banshee asked, crossing his arms as Toad turned a corner and went out of sight.

Avalanche shrugged, "Something the Toad once told me; 'Nobody ever looks at the ceiling'."

* * *

><p>"Oh, man, an old 2300? Forget museum, this thing belongs in a graveyard; I can't believe they didn't update the security system to at least a 2500-J. It'd still be years out of date, but at least it wouldn't be so embarrassing," Toad moaned as he looked at the security panel, "I can't tell anyone I broke into an army base protected by a 2300 series, I'd get laughed at..."<p>

"Pick the lock and open the security panel door," Shaking his head, the amphibious mutant pulled a set of lockpicks from a pocket and worked the lock until it released, putting his tools away with one hand, he opened the panel with the other, still grumbling, "Yo, this is like 'B and E 101', the kinda stuff Morty would have me do for a warm-up..."

When his hand came out from the pocket, it had another tool in it.

"Peel away some of this safety plastic," Toad muttered as he flipped open a small knife and carefully cut away the plastic surrounding a wire on either side of a switch to reveal bare metal. Returning the knife to his pocket, he took out a pair of alligator clips connected by a thin wire and placed them on the exposed wiring, "Bypass the signal interrupter so it tells them it's still working..."

"And turn out the lights, the party's started," he finished as he flipped the switch and the security system went dark.

* * *

><p>Quicksilver tapped his foot impatiently, "Did it ever occur to you that we have no way of knowing if the beams are off or not?"<p>

"What, don't you trust me?" Toad asked, hopping around the corner and down the hall, right through where the beams were supposed to be, "Security for this exit is now deader than disco, yo."

Banshee raised an eyebrow, "Do ye even know what disco was, lad?"

"Yeah; John Travolta, 'Saturday Night Fever', I know the classics," Toad waved a hand, "What, so old you can't remember it anymore or something?"

"Not now, Toad," Quicksilver demanded, grabbing the smaller mutant by his collar, "I want to get this over with so we can get out of here, this place gives me the creeps, there's nowhere to run."

"So, what, you're a claustrophobic?" Shadowcat asked.

"Hey! Just because you and rocks-in-his-head over there are going steady doesn't mean you can say things like that about me!" Quicksilver snapped defensively, "I love girls, I just don't want to get tied down to only one! Girls are like... like... they're like goals, the more you score, the better!"

"Ignore him," Avalanche told his partner as he placed a hand on her shoulder from behind, "He might be Quicksilver, but his brain's a lead weight."

"Well, that's for sure," Shadowcat agreed, "So does that mean he gets to go first?"

"You want to risk our lives on the chance of him actually paying attention to what's going on around him?"

"I want him to scream like a girl when they shoot him so the rest of us know to run the other way," Shadowcat countered.

"Kitten's got claws," Avalanche chuckled as he planted a quick kiss to her collarbone.

"You'd better believe it, buster," she informed him.

"Somehow, I just know your parents are going to blame this on me..."

"So does that mean you don't want to come home with me for the holidays?"

Avalanche pulled back and stared at her for a moment, "You're asking me this now?"

"Think of it as a reason for us not to get ourselves killed," she answered.

"They always like this?" Banshee asked aside to Toad.

"Does today end in 'y'? Yeah, on pretty much any day that does," Toad shrugged in response.

"Oh, Nicky, ye'll owe me for this one for th' rest o' ye life... Infinity an' all..." The Irish mutant muttered.

Quicksilver looked at him curiously, "What's this about infinity?"

"Nothin' ye need be worryin' about, lad," Banshee answered, "'Tis Nick's business alone."

"Hn," Quicksilver shrugged, mentally filing it away for later.

"Hey," Avalanche called back over his shoulder, "You heard her, Quickie, you get to go first."

"Isn't the best supposed to be saved for last?" Quicksilver countered.

"That's why I got the rear, yo," Toad smirked, doing a backflip to avoid Quicksilver's attempted backhand.


	5. Sons of Liberty pt 5

Disclaimer: Marvel owns X-Men Evolution and the 616-mainstream, if any money was being made from this fic - which it's not - they'd get it, not me. The only way I'd get to make money off of my fanfics would be if Marvel or whoever owns the right to whatever fandom were to authorise and publish my writing, and that's not as easy as some people think...

Author's Note; I apologise for my unexpected 'week off', I had originally planned to post one of my Transformers shorts last week, but it seems intent on growing larger every time I try to complete it, so it was no joy on that... Thus, we now return you to our regular update schedule, or at least attempt to...

* * *

><p>"Sons of Liberty"<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

><p>Underground Military Facility<br>Fort Wadsworth Army Base  
>Staten Island, New York<br>Outside the labs

"As soon as I open the door, Banshee, Toad, Quicksilver; I want anyone in the room taken care of quick," Avalanche whispered loudly.

"Why do I have to do this?" Quicksilver complained.

"Because you're the only one fast enough if anyone goes for an alarm, yo," Toad answered for him.

"Right," Avalanche agreed.

"Why can't Shadowcat go in first?" Quicksilver insisted.

"Because if I disrupt the wrong piece of equipment, it'll waste everything we've done so far," Shadowcat crossed her arms and prepared to push the speedster's buttons, "If I didn't know any better, Quicksilver, I'd think you were scared... I mean, this is the kind of stuff Wolverine put all of us, including Spyke, through, but if you're not up for it..."

The mention of Quicksilver's eternal rival had the intended effect.

"A challenge, is it? I live for challenges, if only there was anyone that actually could challenge me. Fine, I'm going in," Quicksilver rattled off darting off to stand on the opposite side of the door to the labs.

'Too easy,' Shadowcat mouthed where only Avalanche could see.

'Without the X-Geeks trying to stifle it, she's really growing into something,' the geokinetic thought to himself as he took up position in front of the door, Toad hopping onto the wall behind him.

When Banshee had taken up his own position, Shadowcat raised her hand, five fingers out.

'I thought these kids were supposed ta be untrained,' Banshee thought as the fingers dropped to four.

At three fingers, Quicksilver thought about how he could use some of the information he was learning.

Two fingers and Toad took a deep breath, preparing to go through the door and planning what to do when he did.

With one finger left, Shadowcat felt her teeth clench as she reminded herself that this wasn't the Danger Room but real life with the others counting on her.

As the last finger dropped and his girlfriend closed her fist, Avalanche drew back his leg and slammed his foot sole-first into the door, feeling the lightweight metal buckle and give way, creating a gap between the two sliding pieces. A second kick broke them free from the locking mechanisms and caused them to retract into the walls. While Avalanche was recovering, the others moved - Quicksilver darting one way, Banshee the other and Toad careening overhead and rolling to his feet as he hit the floor, looking around.

"Well, this is a disappointment," Toad remarked upon seeing the empty room, "What's the point of making a good entrance when there's nobody to see it, yo?"

"Ye'd think they'd be workin' hard ta get all th' information they can outta their prisoners," Banshee added with a frown.

"Maybe they're trying to keep the number of people that know about them down so they gave everyone a vacation?" Toad shot back.

"Not bloody likely," Banshee scoffed.

Quicksilver grumbled, "Well, lab's clear, that means they must be in the brig, let's go, okay?"

"First thing's first," Shadowcat interjected as she and Avalanche walked into the lab, "We need to make sure they don't get anything from these computers."

"Assuming they aren't remote-linked to off-site data storage, yo," Toad countered.

"Even if they are, losing the equipment here might set them back," Avalanche nodded, tussling the other mutant's hair with brotherly affection, "Let's do it."

"An' how will ye do tha' without settin' off every alarm from here ta Donegal?" Banshee asked.

Shadowcat looked around for a moment before pointing at one of the workstations, "I think it's our lucky day; someone's been a bad boy and forgot to log out..."

"Shoddy, very shoddy," Toad remarked with a put-on British accent as he hopped over to it and as he landed in the chair he gave it a quick spin and looked at the screen closely, "SysAdmin, even, I am one lucky toad..."

Shadowcat and Avalanche joined him, each reaching to put a hand on the back of the chair and giving each other a blushing look when Avalanche's rested on top of Shadowcat's, but neither moved their hand.

"Think you can take out the rest of the security systems?"

"Should do," Toad remarked, a series of keystrokes giving him entrance to the necessary programs, "Except this one... and maybe these two... Look like they'd take higher clearance than what this guy has."

"Do what you can, Toad, even one system down gives us a better chance of this working."

"You're really starting to sound like you enjoy this, Lance," Quicksilver remarked.

Avalanche didn't turn around, "Hey, if they're willing to make it legal for us to do what we'd do anyway... I'm all for that."

"And what about when they want us to turn on our own kind, huh?" Quicksilver challenged, "You going to start hunting down other mutants like some kind of hound?"

This time, Avalanche did turn, the hand that had been covering his girlfriend's moving to point at the silver-haired speedster, "What's that supposed to mean, huh, Quicksilver? You got something you want to say, then just say it. Otherwise, you might want to remember that Xavier and Magneto were more than willing to turn mutants against each other themselves. At least Fury doesn't care what we do as long as we do it quietly."

"It's more than that," Shadowcat added, placing her hand on Avalanche's shoulder as she turned around, "If something does happen, we're in a place to make a difference. Who would you rather the goverment have hunting mutants if it came to it; people like us who can understand and try to help other mutants or someone who'd just throw them into concentration camps if they're lucky..."

"Somebody who knows what it's like surviving against the odds or some geek with a lot of math telling him that nobody's got no choice in the matter?" Toad added over his shoulder.

"What, you're ganging up on me now?" Quicksilver snapped defensively.

"You're the one who started it, Quickie," Avalanche replied, "If you think there's a problem with what we're doing, why don't you go find Mystique? Maybe the two of you could start your own little war on the world, just remember that you'll have to go through us now."

"This hero stuff is going to the rocks in your head," Quicksilver shook his head, "Mystique? I want that crazy lady to pay as much as the rest of you do; she abandoned me, too, remember? I'm just not sure signing up with the humans is the way to do it."

"I never said it was the best move," Avalanche defended, "Just that it's the best move we've got at the moment. What are our other options? Hunt down Mystique or Magneto and sign back up to be abandoned again? Forget it. Join up with the X-Geeks? We wouldn't last a week surrounded by the goody-goodies... Er, present company excepted, Pretty Kitty."

Shadowcat raised an eyebrow, "I don't see anyone from the Institute here. I'm one of us now, remember? Besides, you're right. Jean tries to act like everyone's big sister and really, she just ends up being bossy and holier-than-thou... and you saw what Scott's like when something doesn't fit his point-of-view... The only ones who'd accept us as we are there would be the younger students, like the three we're here to help."

"And one more thing," Avalanche continued, "If we stayed on our own; sooner or later, they'd come after us, we'd have to deal with Mystique, Xavier, Magneto, maybe the humans too... Like I told Boom-Boom and 'Kat; if we're on the humans' side, we'll be able to let the rest of them fight it out and be there when they're all worn out, ready to go."

Across the room, Banshee chuckled, "Do ye two do this oft'? Tradin' back an' forth an' th' like while ye're talkin'?"

"Nah, this is new," Toad answered, stretching his arms, "I think it has something to do with them being on the same side of things now... and... gotcha!"

"Security systems are down?" Avalanche asked.

"Most of 'em," Toad admitted, "We'll need to stick close to the walls when we get to the brig - there's a bunch of laser beams there that seem to be on another system. Lucky for us, there's about two feet on either side of the hall that's no problem - just enough for us to get in and out with."

"We'll just have to be careful," Shadowcat remarked, "And take it slow."

"'Take it slow'... I'm being punished, aren't I?" Quicksilver fumed, glaring at the ceiling as though he were looking through it.

* * *

><p>Author's Note; There's a minor - and I mean minor as in 'blink and you'll miss it' - reference to another X-Men character hidden in this chapter, I'll give you a hint - they never appeared in Evolution - let's see how many people can catch it, shall we?<p> 


	6. Sons of Liberty pt 6

Disclaimer: The disclaimer stating that I don't own X-Men Evolution and aren't making any money with this writing would be here, except Iceman decided to show off and it's currently under a heat lamp defrosting.

* * *

><p>"Sons of Liberty"<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

><p>Underground Military Facility<br>Fort Wadsworth Army Base  
>Staten Island, New York<br>Outside The Brig

"I can't believe they dinnae have guards down here," Banshee was muttering, "How stupid can one get? ...Dinnae want ta know th' answer ta tha', methinks..."

"Everyone wants the illusion of security, everyone for their own reasons," Shadowcat shrugged.

"Sounds like ye know what yer talkin' about, lass."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Shadowcat admitted, not sure whether to elaborate.

"Don't," Banshee stopped her, "I'm nae askin'. We've all got our stories an' they nae all for tellin'."

"Uh... Thanks, I guess," Shadowcat shook her head, "Even if I'm not sure if what you just said is a good thing or not."

Toad looked over his shoulder, "You know, we can go in any time now, yo."

"Yeah, let's get this done with so we can get out of here, huh? You can flirt with the old guy later," Quicksilver sniped.

A knife that Shadowcat hadn't even been holding before was now pressing its tip to his throat, "Keep it up, Quickie, just keep it up..."

"You can't kill him, Pretty Kitty," Avalanche said, gently moving the knife away from the speedster's neck.

"At least one of you isn't a violent maniac," Quicksilver remarked, rubbing where the knife-tip had been pressed.

Avalanche glared at him, "At least, don't kill him here. We're trying to get mutants away from the army, we don't want to leave a body for them. Wait until we get home, then you can kill him all you'd like."

Quicksilver gulped, causing a flash of pain to shoot through his neck, 'I take it back, they're both psychotic.'

Toad rolled his eyes, "Fine, yo, you all play around and I'll go play the hero."

"Havenae known ye tha' long, but me thinks it be a bad day when th' frog be th' voice o' reason," Banshee added, "I'm with 'im, we'll go in ourselves if ye'd rather stay out."

Avalanche took a series of deep breaths and pointed at Quicksilver, "We're gonna finish this rescue, Pietro... then, when we get home, you need to decide if you're willing to stay if we're going to keep working for SHIELD, because I don't know about the others, but I'm not going to put up with this attitude if you are."

Quicksilver folded his arms in defiance, "Who the hell made you the boss, Lance? If this is what working for the humans does to you, maybe I should be in charge."

Shadowcat, Banshee and Toad stared at the speedster before the Irish mutant spoke, "Ye be jokin', right?"

"I'd rather the Toad be in charge," Shadowcat added.

"If I'm in charge now, my first order is to do this jailbreak so's we can bounce, yo," Toad announced, "Let's get to it."

"Yeah," Avalanche agreed, taking a step back away from Quicksilver, "Let's get to it."

"Yo, finally," Toad grumbled, as he fell backwards and balanced on his hands as he unleashed a double-footed kick to the door, breaking the locking mechanism and causing it to slide open before he sprung back to his feet, "Ladies first and all that."

"Thank you, kind sir," Shadowcat teased as she walked past him and then stopped in the doorway, "How far from the door did you say before the laser beams started?

"Two feet from the door and two on each side of the hall," Toad answered, "Yo, like the teacher would say, 'single file, please'."

* * *

><p>The opening of the door had drawn the attention of the three prisoners.<p>

"Why am I not surprised to see the Brotherhood here?" Bobby grumbled as five people walked into the brig, "Figures they'd be working with anyone that gives them a shot at us, even the army."

"Watch it, Bobby," Shadowcat hissed, "We're working with the goverment, all right - with the part that's working against the people that have you here."

"If you're not working with the guys that captured us, what are you guys doing here?" Jubilee asked, standing up and walking to the bars of her cell.

"What's the matter, yo? Don't you recognize a jailbreak when you see one?" Toad quipped, "Or do I gotta say 'my name is Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you'."

"Hey, no offense, but I don't think she's the Princess Leia type," Avalanche countered.

Shadowcat elbowed him in the ribs, "Now you watch it, handsome."

Avalanche shrugged, "Whatever you say, Pretty Kitty... Toad, you checked the blueprints while you were at it, right?"

Once more putting on a British accent, Toad gave his friend an annoyed glare, "I find that question, mate, 'ighly insultin'."

"Of course you did," Avalanche smirked, "I should've known. You mind?"

"Not normally," Toad shot back, "But I think I can follow orders for once, yo."

Taking a black device hanging by a lanyard next to the door from it's hook, Toad shook his head, "What kinda idiot keeps the magnetic key this close to the cells? They deserve to have a jailbreak, yo."

The device looked similar to a pistol, except the 'barrel' was squared off and only two inches long. It was this part that Toad inserted into a socket on the nearest cell door and gave the device a turn. A light turned from red to green and Toad removed the key and watched as the door slid open.

"Thanks, I guess," Sam remarked stepping out into the hall. As he went to take another step, Toad stuck out his arm to stop him.

"Don't, yo, not all the security systems are down," the other mutant informed him, "Stick close to the walls."

Sam looked down at the floor where he had almost stepped, "Thanks again."

"Toad, the key," Shadowcat called out from the other side of the brig, holding out a hand.

With careful aim, Toad tossed the key across the brig and waited as Shadowcat opened another cell before returning the key. Seeing it falling towards the area of the floor covered by the laser tripwires, Toad darted out his tongue and caught it as Jubilee exited her cell.

"Whoever you guys are with now, we owe you one," the Chinese-American mutant stated.

"Whatever ye do, dinae let 'im hear tha', trust me," Banshee snorted, "Never forgets a favor owed 'im, he does."

Jubilee frowned, "Who?"

Shadowcat put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder, "It's a long story. Right now, let's just get out of here. Like Toad said, stay close to the wall and head for the door."

While Jubilee, Shadowcat and Sam made their way carefully back to the others waiting at the brig door, Toad moved on to the final prisoner.

"Come on, come on, get me outta here," Bobby insisted.

"I dunno, yo," Toad shrugged, "The way you were talkin', I might want to leave you in there for a bit."

"I'm sorry, okay?"

Toad smirked, it felt good to be the one with the power for a change, "Sorry for what?"

"What?" Bobby exclaimed.

"Just say it, Bobby," Jubilee demanded.

"Okay, okay," Bobby rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry I accused you of helping the army hold us prisoner, happy, Toad?"

"Sing me a song of my glory!" Toad commanded.

"Toad! Let him out so we can go," Avalanche instructed.

"Fine, fine, I'll let him out," Toad grumbled as he inserted the magnetic key, "Didn't have a camera for blackmail pictures anyway, yo."

Toad turned the key and took a step back along the wall, clearing the way in front of the door.

"Woohoo, the Iceman is out!" Bobby shouted, jumping up to grab onto the top bars of the cell doorway.

"Bobby, no!

"Bobby, don't!"

Jubilee and Sam shouted at almost the same time, not fast enough to stop their fellow Institute student from swinging out into the corridor and stumbling forward as he landed. Losing his balance, Bobby fell forward, landing face-first among the network of laser-tripwires down the middle of the brig corridor, breaking the beams and causing alarms to sound.

"Yo, we shoulda left you in the cooler, Snowman," Toad groaned, stepping out into the corridor now that their presence was known anyway and dragging the other mutant to his feet.

"We're going to Plan B," Avalanche announced over the sound of the alarms as Toad and Iceman joined the others, "Banshee, you take Jubilee and Cannonball. Quicksilver, feel free to give Iceman a rough ride. As soon as we have an opening, both of you go."

* * *

><p>Outside the base, Blob looked around at the lights and sirens, "Pretty loud for a place that's supposed to be shut down. Guess that's our cue, huh, Boom-Boom?"<p>

"Yep," the blonde agreed, creating a handful of time bombs, "Time to give them their opening."

* * *

><p>Jubilee looked around, "You're all they sent, there's no-one else? And who's 'Banshee'?"<p>

Banshee stepped forward and gave a sweeping bow, "'Twould be me, lass."

"And we're it," Shadowcat informed the New Mutants, "Got a problem with it?"

Sam took a step forward, "If they do, I don't. What can I do to help?"

Avalanche looked at him, "You want to help? You can clear a path ahead of the others; Boom-Boom and Blob are waiting for you outside... and try to keep Slushee from doing anything else stupid, wouldja?"

Cannonball glanced between Avalanche and Iceman a couple times, "Think I can do that..."

Surprising everyone, the Kentucky-born mutant spun around and punched Iceman, knocking the other mutant unconscious as he hit the floor.

"That do?" he asked.

"Boyo," Banshee grinned, "I do believe ye may earn a medal for tha'."

"The regular elevator's probably a bad idea... Two levels up and you'll find a couple vehicle lifts that go up to the surface, yo" Toad informed them, "That's your way out."

"Is that the way y'all came in?" Cannonball asked.

"No, but with the alarms going off, I give it three minutes at most before they discover the unconscious guard we left behind," Toad answered.

"What will you be doing?" Jubilee asked.

"What we're best at," Avalanche answered her, "We're gonna bring the house down."

* * *

><p>Author's Note; Congratulations to demonic hellfire for being the one to figure out the reference in the previous chapter. For those still wondering, the reference is to Rachel SummerGrey when Pietro challenges Lance on will he 'start hunting down other mutants like some kind of hound' if SHIELD wants him to. In the Days of Futures Past, Rachel was used as one of Ahab's mutant hunting Hounds before she escaped.


	7. Sons of Liberty pt 7

Disclaimer: The disclaimer stating that I don't own X-Men Evolution and aren't making any money with this writing would be here, but it disappeared in the confusion surrounding the Brotherhood's escape, disappearing into the Los Angeles underground.

* * *

><p>"Sons of Liberty"<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

><p>Fort Wadsworth Army Base<br>Staten Island, New York  
>Base Perimeter<p>

When the intruder alarms sounded, the remaining guards on the surface turned their attentions to the underground facility, an action that would be a mistake. While he was only unmovable and not truely unstoppable, and certainly not as skilled in science as teammates Shadowcat and Toad, Fredrick J. 'The Blob' Dukes had a good grasp of the concept of force equaling mass times acceleration and he knew that when he got up to speed he had plenty of mass to use and while he could be stopped, it took a lot to do it.

It took more than a chain-link fence had.

The sound of metal wires snapping and posts being torn from the ground by the impact force caused nearby guards to turn to face the intruder on the surface just in time to be sent flying by Blob slamming into them and shouldering them out of his path in a way that any professional quarterback would be proud of. Behind him, Boom-Boom generated handfuls of time bombs as she ran and was tossing them out to the sides at guard towers, seachlights, light-posts, anything that caught her eye as a target to cause disruption and distraction.

"Any idea where they're coming out?" Boom-Boom shouted the question as Blob stopped.

"Nope!" Blob answered with his own shout to be heard over the chaos, "We just trash everything, I guess!"

Boom-Boom readied more time bombs, "My kind of plan! Hey, Blob, give me a toss up, willya?"

Blob's head tilted to the side in confusion, "Huh?"

Boom-Boom jerked her head upward.

"Oh!"

Blob lowered his hand for her to step onto and then tossed Boom-Boom into the air. Twisting her body in midair, the blonde began to spin around and threw her time bombs out to the sides, scattering them across the ground and rooftops of the base's buildings before they exploded, causing roofs and walls to cave in, several jeeps to explode and a small-scale dust storm from the rubble and particulates that had been blown into the air. As gravity took hold again and began pulling her down, Boom-Boom tucked her arms and legs in to keep from landing on them wrong and closed her eyes. When her landing came too soft and too early, she peeked an eye open and glanced around to find herself having been caught by her teammate.

"Thanks, Blob."

"Hey," the large mutant shrugged, "What're friends for?"

The crack of a bullet being fired was the first sign that the defenders of Fort Wadsworth were beginning to regroup. Blob's skin was unbreakable but not unfeeling and as the bullet impacted on his back, he winced from the pain and knew that he'd have a definate bruise there.

"That... hurt..."

A series of rapid cracks indicated more shots fired, but the dust and confusion meant that none of them hit the two mutants.

"They're really trying to kill us," Blob remarked.

"What did you expect? Wine and roses?" Boom-Boom asked sarcastically before raising up to look over Blob's shoulder, "Hey, Blob, I've got an idea - toss me!"

Blob glanced up, "Again?"

"No, at them!" Boom-Boom answered in exasperation.

Blob gave a quick glance behind him, "You sure, Boom-Boom?"

"Yes!"

The big mutant took a deep breath, "Okay..."

Blob spun in place a couple time to pick up speed before he tossed his teammate through the air for a second time. As she tumbled through the air, a quick thought of whether this was what flying might feel like passed unbidden through the blonde's mind. She was pulled from those thoughts as a bullet flew past her, grazing her hair.

'Girly-girl, I'm not,' she mentally fumed, 'But no-one messes with my hair!'

Toad had once learned that the hard way after a failed prank involving his slime and her shampoo bottle that resulted in the younger mutant being duct-taped to a chair and forced to watch videos of science class frog dissections.

When the impact came, Boom-Boom was ready and rolled to absorb it, starting at her shoulder and across her back to her opposite hip before bringing herself up onto one knee.

'Who knew watching that 'Parker' guy would come in handy?' She thought with a grin as as the soldiers that she had just passed over turned to look at her.

"Hello, having a blast? No? Here, have some of mine," Boom-Boom remarked with a smirk before she created time bombs between her fingers and threw them at the surprised soldiers and then rolled backwards out of the blast range as they detonated.

"Show-off," Quicksilver remarked to Boom-Boom as she stood up.

"Look who's talking, Quickie," Boom-Boom noticed the other mutant slung across her teammate's shoulders, "Well, he picked a hell of a time to take a nap."

"I knocked him out, Boom-Boom," Cannonball told her as the rest of the escapees exited the building in front of her.

"And let him miss all the fun?" Boom-Boom asked sarcastically.

Banshee set Jubilee from a fireman's carry onto her own feet and shook his head, "We'll be needin' ta do something about yer idea o' fun, lass."

"My idea of fun..." Boom-Boom paused as she took the opportunity to throw several smaller time bombs through the door that the others had just come out of, "...is just fine."

"Yes," Quicksilver replied simply to Jubilee's 'is she nuts' look, "So, do you want to help us right now or would you prefer your former accomodations? I'd just like to know since I didn't care for them and if you're planning on standing around looking funny until they capture you again, I'll just be leaving now."

"What kind of rescue is this?" Jubilee asked with wide eyes.

"Th' kind o' rescue where we be doin' it by th' seat o' our pants," Banshee took the liberty of informing her, "Detailed plans nae exactly bein' this lot's forte an' all..."

"Hey, the less of a plan you have, the less things can go against it, old man," Boom-Boom retorted, then paused, "Where's Blob?"

A dark green jeep suddenly landed upside down on the ground near them, causing the group to look in the direction it had come from.

"I think that's him," Cannonball observed as the larger mutant lifted one of his feet and dropped it on the front of another jeep, caving it in and forcing the soldier driving it to run for safety.

Reaching down, Blob grabbed the jeep's winch cable and gave it a series of hard pulls until it came out and he had some length of cable. Fixing a quick loop in the cable, Blob gave it a hard jerk to get it moving before he began to spin around, the jeep being pulled along like an Olympic throwing hammer.

"What is he doing?" Jubilee whispered in confusion.

Another couple of revolutions and Blob released the jeep and sent it flying towards the main gate of the base.

* * *

><p>At that moment, a retrieval team was returning from a sweep of New York City with new prisoners; none of the truck's occupants knew for certain what was going on, but they were ready for just about anything to be happening - they had been forced to hit one of their prisoners with tranquilizers to keep them from being able to teleport away, that wasn't in any of the standard field manuals. The one thing that the Corporal driving the truck wasn't prepared for was for a jeep to come flying through the air at them. The Corporal spun the wheel hard to the right in an attempt to avoid the projectile, but the truck failed to move fast enough; as it turned, the jeep slammed into the truck's side and the combined inertia of turn and impact turned the truck over.<p>

One of the prisoners was the first person to recover from being stunned after getting tossed around when the truck flipped and took the opportunity of the soldiers being stunned by the wreck to make an escape.

"Come on, Ty," the girl remarked as she half-lifted her unconscious friend onto her shoulder, "Time to go."

As steady as possible, but with speed born of urgency, she dragged him along into the night.

* * *

><p>"Watch it, here comes more'a them!" Cannonball pointed at a pair of approaching shapes.<p>

"An' 'ere I go!" Banshee countered, taking a deep breath and as soon as one of the shapes came close enough to be identified as a military jeep, the Irish-born mutant cut loose with an unearthly wail that made his teammates and their rescuees cringe and cover their ears. They were the lucky ones. Sound, even the sonic waves of Banshee's mutant power, is produced by vibration. Vibrate something long enough, hard enough, or at just the right frequency and it will destroy it.

On the biological level, that can consist of vertigo and nausea, soft-tissue damage, eardrums bursting, eventually loss of consciousness and even death. The military personnel from Trask's operation that were in the jeep didn't survive long enough to reach that point. As the waves reached the jeep and began affecting it, being weaker than the metal of the vehicle, the rubber belts in the engine compartment snapped and the tires blew first, stopping the vehicle in its tracks. At the front of the vehicle, the radiator was next to go, the vibrations exciting the metal and causing the radiator cap to loosen enough that the pressure of the heated radiator fluid blew it free as it boiled over and burst upward in a cloud of steam and scalding liquid. As the vibrations continued backwards through the jeep, bolts and screws began shaking free and the pieces they were holding together began coming apart. Finally, the vibrations reached the gas tank and as they bombarded the metal, it began to heat up from the increased friction until the fumes inside caught fire and combusted, incinerating jeep and occupants in a ball of fire.

In turn illuminated by the light from the fire and obscured by the smoke and dust clouds in the air, the second jeep swerved around the burning remains of the first, slewing around to present the machine gunner with a better firing position. Before the gunner could fire, he was distracted by a sound like thunderous drumbeats cutting through the chaos. As the gunner spun around, he saw Blob bearing down on the jeep with an angry yell, shoving through soldiers and sending them sprawling. Just before he reached the jeep, Blob dropped his shoulder and stuck out his elbow, getting it under the bottom of the military vehicle and in one motion lifting it up and over his shoulder, flipping it over him and through the air, sending the two soldiers inside tumbling out as it landed with a crash. Standing in front of the rest of his team, Blob took a series of deep breaths, unused to running like he had been that night.

"Uh, hey, guys. Am I late?" Blob scratched the back of his head.

"No, Blob, you're right on time," Boom-Boom told him with a smirk.

"Well, that does it for the reinforcements, I guess," Jubilee remarked with a quick look around.

"Nae, Lass, just tha' wave o' them... There'll be more comin'," Banshee countered.

With the chaos settled for a moment, Boom-Boom did a quick headcount, "Where are the others?"

"Secondary objective," Banshee answered shortly.

"What's that again?" Blob asked.

"Blow the place sky high, Blob, remember?" Quicksilver asked sarcastically.

"Aw, I wanted to do that," Boom-Boom complained.

"Ye can 'ave th' next one," Banshee told her.

Jubilee raised an eyebrow, "'Next one?' Just who are you guys working for, anyways?"

"You'll meet him later," Boom-Boom answered.

"Not if they have their way," Quicksilver retorted, pointing in the distance where smoke-obscured figures were beginning to regroup for another attack.

"What's taking them so long?" Boom-Boom complained, as she followed Quicksilver's line-of-sight, "It's starting to get a little crowded here."

"Then we start fallin' back ta th' evacuation point an' hope th' rest get there in time," came the reply.

"I don't think you understand what the lady's sayin', Leprechuan," Blob snarled, "We're not leaving here without our friends."

"Then let's get out of here," Shadowcat shouted as she and the other two ran towards them, "Like, before the place blows?"

"Aw, can't we stay and watch?" Boom-Boom asked, teasingly.

"Sure," Toad added, "If you like prison food, yo."

"Not happening," Blob rumbled, "Which way, 'Cat?"

Shadowcat pointed towards a large object in the distance, "There should be a boat waiting for us under the Narrows Bridge, but we need to move fast, the clock's counting down on this place."

"Well, what're we waitin' for, then?" Cannonball asked, "Hey, big 'un, you wanna see which'a us can clear the way better?"

"Sounds fun," Blob agreed, cracking his knuckles.

The two near-indestructible mutants took off, Blob at a hard run across the ground and Cannonball flying through the air with more control than he realised he had. Behind them, the rest of the mutants followed, on foot, Banshee in the air, tounge-swinging and leaping from object to object in Toad's case, with Iceman still tossed over Quicksilver's shoulder. As they reached the hole in the fence where Blob had made his entrance, the muffled sound of the first explosion caused Shadowcat to half-turn back towards the base before Avalanche's hand on her back and forward motion had her moving again.

* * *

><p>Author's Note; Yes, featuring guest appearences by Cloak and Dagger. They're mutants in this, unlike in 616 where Marvel can't seem to make up their minds... No, the Brotherhood doesn't know who Spider-Man is. The 'Parker' guy that Tabby referred to is actually someone doing 'Parkour'.The misspelling was intentional on my part as I didn't think the Brotherhood would care that much about how it's spelt or pronounced.<p> 


	8. Sons of Liberty pt 8

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel characters or situations that may appear here, they belong to - oh, wait - Marvel, even Dino Manelli, Jr. who makes a minor appearance in the Helicarrier level of the first Ultimate Alliance game.

* * *

><p>"Sons of Liberty"<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

><p>SHIELD Rigid-hulled Inflatable Boat<br>Upper New York Bay  
>Thirty Minutes Later<br>12 Minutes After Departure/6 Minutes To Destination

Still high on adrenaline, Lance's mind wasn't on what they had just done, nor even his problems with water, but strangely on one of the times he had bothered to pay attention in class; American History, a movie was being shown and unlike the teacher's lectures or the work from the book, the movie had managed to reach something inside him and spark a sense of kinship between a high school troublemaker and a rebel of a different sort. He didn't know why, but a song from one of the movie's key moments came to mind.

With a strange smile on his face, Lance leant back with his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and began to hum.

After a moment, one of the other passengers recognized the tune that he was humming and began to sing along,

"Plant the seed in our homeland, boys; let it grow where all can see; feed it with our devotion, boys; call it the Liberty Tree. It's a tall old tree and a strong old tree and we are the Sons, yes we are the Sons, the Sons of Liberty," Kitty sang, "Save it from the sword, boys; water down its roots with tea; then the sun will always shine on the old Liberty Tree."

This time, Fred and Todd, Tabitha and even Sam joined Kitty in the chorus as Lance continued humming along, "It's a tall old tree and a strong old tree and we are the Sons, yes we are the Sons, the Sons of Liberty!"

As the kids continued singing, Sean shook his head good-naturedly from behind the wheel, "Americans..."

If any of the boat's occupants had cared to look up, they would have sworn that the patina-covered and time-worn figure towering over the Upper Bay was smiling down at them.

* * *

><p>Battery Park<br>Manhattan Island, New York City  
>20 Minutes After DepartureDestination Reached

Jubilee couldn't believe what they were being expected to travel in, "A moving van?"

"Box truck," came the correction from, surprisingly, Todd, "Can you think of anything someone would pay less attention to? I mean, how often do you actually look at a box truck?"

Tabitha was unconvinced, "And you have, Froggy?"

"Yep! One day I counted almost fifty of them in three hours, most of them just plain unmarked white," Todd remarked, "And that was Bayville, think how many more there's gotta be here in the NYC, yo."

"More than enough," the SHIELD agent wearing a moving company uniform, standing next to the truck itself, answered, "Like he said, no one ever looks at a box truck. You'd be surprised at the kind of stuff that gets moved around in plain white box trucks and eighteen-wheelers."

"Oh, ye be quiet, Junior, an' start th' bloody lorry, would ye?" Sean complained, "I'd like ta get this matter shut o' before th' dawn."

"Aye, Agent Cassidy," 'Junior' answered, opening the back of the truck, revealing not the empty box most present expected, but rather a well-built compartment with benches on all three sides, one-way windows to see out and overhead lighting, "If Mister... Dukes, was it? If Mister Dukes would be so kind as to sit at the far end next to the cab and the rest of you follow in, we'll be on our way to the safehouse."

Fred looked at the height of the back of the truck from the ground, "Uh..."

"Sorry," 'Junior' apologised, "Forgot this."

'Junior' reached up and inside the truck to press a button, causing a lift to fold down and out from underneath the truck and settle onto the ground in front of Fred.

"Nice," Fred remarked as he got on the lift and rode it up until he could get into the truck. While he went to the far end and got settled, 'Junior' lowered the lift back down halfway to the ground so that the other mutants could get in as well.

The last one in, Kitty paused and looked down at the agent, "Um, you didn't tell us your name... or you can't tell us your name?"

"Oh, sorry, bad manners on my part," 'Junior' winced, "SHIELD Agent Dino Manelli, Junior, Ms. Pryde. Until this mission, Colonel Fury had me assigned to observation on Fort Wadsworth. He pulled me to provide extraction support for you and your team."

Kitty realised something, "You're the one that found out they were there."

Manelli nodded, "Yes, ma'am. I reported it to Agent Cassidy as per my orders and was instructed to stop observation and prepare your evacuation route."

"I guess we all should thank you," Kitty remarked.

"No, Ma'am," Manelli denied, "It's the job."

"Oh, please," Sean groaned, "Do we have ta go though this 'how-do-ye-sir' shite right now? There be a safehouse waiting for us ta get outta these damned monkey-suits..."

Manelli rolled his eyes and muttered, "Crotchety old goat."

Kitty pressed the button to stow the lift away and reached up to grasp the door's handle, "So... I'm stopping this now before it gets out of hand, okay?"

Bringing her hand down, she firmly shut the door, cutting off the discussion, before taking her seat next to Lance, leaning against him and dropping her head onto his shoulder.

"Hold me," was all she said.

* * *

><p>Xavier Institute for Higher Learning<br>Bayville, New York  
>Later That Morning, 0728EST<p>

Charles Xavier sat in his wheelchair facing one of his associates in front of the Institute, "Logan, I cannot stress how much I disagree with this course of action. We know nothing about what has happened to the students and going after them ill-prepared could simply make the situation worse. What we need to do is gather information and establish the facts of the matter before taking action."

Logan snarled, "An' by the time we've gotten off our asses, who knows what'll happen to those kids. Forget it, Chuck, I'm going. There's still people that owe me favors and if they don't know, they'll either be able to find out or know someone that can. Like it or not, I'm going."

Walking over to his bike, Logan swung his leg over the saddle and onto the kickstart. Before he could start the bike however, the sound of a different kind of engine got the attention of both mutants as a midnight blue Blackhawk helicopter came into view over the tops of the trees surrounding the Institiute, turning to show a white stylised eagle painted in a circle on the side as it descended to the ground and landed.

Without the rotors slowing, the door on the side slid open and Fury stepped out of the chopper and took his cigar out of his mouth, "Gotta admit, Logan, not 'xactly the kinda place anyone'd expect ta find ya... Bit too high-class fer my tastes, ta tell ya the truth. But, hey, whatever blows yer skirt up."

Logan got off his bike and walked toward the SHIELD Director, "What do you want, Fury?"

"Aw, now ya gone an' hurt my feelings, Shorty," Fury snickered at Logan, "Seems some of my boys found something ya lost, about three somethings, ta be 'xact. Here I was tryin' ta be 'Mister Nice Guy' an' bring 'em home fer ya an' whatta I get fer it? Send 'em out!"

Bobby stepped into view in the door of the helicopter, battered and embarrassed, looking around until a sharp shove from Jubilee made him step out onto the ground, followed by the girl herself, looking just as tired. Sam was the last to step out, standing straight and walking normal, but a look at his face would show that he was no more immune to exhaustion from the previous night than the other two.

Xavier rolled up to where the others were standing, "I don't believe we've been introduced, mister...?"

"Yer right, we haven't," Fury gave Xavier a quick glare and turned back to Logan, "Keep 'em at home, will ya? Might not be able ta help next time."

"Oh, don't worry," Logan folded his arms and glared at the three New Mutants behind Fury, "They won't have any energy left to pull stunts like this for a while. For starters, I think we'll have a nice double session in the Danger Room and a quick three-mile run to warm up for it."

Bobby couldn't stifle a groan.

"What's that, Icecube? You want to make it five miles? Get your stuff and get in the van. Enjoy school, kiddies, because when it gets out, your tails belong to me," Logan jerked a thumb towards the mansion, an instruction that all three followed quickly, running for the safety - albeit minute - of the building.

"Same ole Logan," Fury remarked as he put his cigar in his mouth and turned back to the chopper.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave without answers," Xavier insisted, raising a hand to his head.

"I wouldn't try it," Fury remarked without turning, "Be bad fer yer health if ya know what I mean... Goes fer tryin' it on those kids, too."

"I'll vouch for him, Chuck," Logan told the telepath, "I've known Fury a long time and he means what he says... If he says you don't want to try anything, then tryin' something's a bad idea."

Fury put his hands on the sides of the door and one foot on the floor of the chopper, "Ya should listen ta him, Xavier - you'll live longer."

As soon as the Director of SHIELD pulled himself into the chopper, it lifted off. The SHIELD transport was over Bayville and headed for the Brotherhood's Boarding House before anyone spoke again...

"Not bad, team... It'll take a big band-aide ta cover up, but SHIELD's PR boys're already earnin' their pay. News'll say it was minor damage from an averted terrorist attack, which ain't that far from the truth. Ya done good today, but the next un's gonna be harder than that, ya can bet on it..." Fury took a slow draw from his cigar, "If yer up fer it, that is."

The Brotherhood glanced among each other in silent communication before Lance spoke for them...

"Yeah, we're up for it. You've got your team, Fury," the geokinetic nodded.

Fury nodded back, "Glad ta hear it. Irish'll contact ya next mission we've got fer ya. Might be a while since I don't plan on bringin' ya in on just any mission."

"Good," Tabitha answered smirking with a sideways glance at Pietro, "We love challenges."

"Hey!" The speedster exclaimed when he realised that his teammate had co-opted his catchphrase, causing the rest of the Brotherhood to begin laughing.

"This is gonna be..." Fury muttered around his cigar before he trailed off and sighed as the chopper circled a couple times before making its landing approach to the Boarding House's lawn.

* * *

><p>Brotherhood Boarding House,<br>Bayville, New York.  
>Morning, 0737EST<p>

They would be late for school, but for once not a member of the Brotherhood had any intention of skipping - if they did that they'd miss any chance of seeing the expressions on the Institute students' faces. Fortunately, they had retrieved their belongings from the safehouse and brought them back with them on the chopper, so all they had to worry about was changing for class and making it before they missed more than homeroom. For decency's sake, after the first night Kitty had claimed a room for herself - with Tabby in Mystique's former room, that had left Rogue's old residence open for the former Institute student - and she had headed there as soon as they were off the chopper, but instead of going inside, she was standing in the doorway...

Kitty slid her bag off her shoulder and caught it by the straps to use as a weapon if she needed to, "Who are you?"

The white-haired man tilted his head, a gesture that struck Kitty as oddly familiar, "Someone you'll never meet, Katherine Pryde. You may not have known it at the time, but you've altered the course of history - future history - with your recent actions."

Kitty frowned and blinked, "What do you mean, I changed 'future history'? Just who are you?"

"Name's Cable. The short version is when you joined the Brotherhood, you changed things, some for the better, others for the worse, only time itself will tell."

"How does my joining the Brotherhood mean we'll never meet?"

"Oh, we'll meet again, Kate Pryde, but I'm now a paradox - a man who doesn't exist in the timeline. My parents have different opinions on you in the Brotherhood that they'll never reconcile. It happens. Don't worry about me, I have my ways of surviving."

"Different opinions on..." Possibilities ran through Kitty's mind, but only one seemed possible as improbable as it seemed.

"I can't tell you that," Cable cut her off before she could say any names, "I shouldn't have told you what I already have."

"Then... what are you here to tell me?"

"That you're attracting a lot of attention," Cable reached for a small cube that extended from his metal arm and raised it in the air, "And not all of it is good, Kate Alvers. Bodyslide by one."

Two rings appeared around Cable's waist, splitting to travel up and down his body as he faded away.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes; With this, case complete... until next time. My apologies to Disney for the useage of the Sons of Liberty song from the movie 'Johnny Tremain'. Special thanks go out to Dan Briggs, Rollin Hand and the rest of the team at IMF for serving as technical consultants on this little adventure.<p> 


	9. Sidestory : On A Night Like This

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see... This is The 365 Project, 9 January.

Disclaimer: "X-Men: Evolution" and all associated characters and situations are the property of Marvel, used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

Consider this a side-story to my "Sons of Liberty" series to make up for the Wanda Arc stories taking so long. I promise, I haven't forgotten it!

* * *

><p>"Sons of Liberty"<br>'On A Night Like This'  
>by J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'<p>

* * *

><p>Katherine Pryde had a problem, growing up in Illinois, she had gotten all the lectures from her parents; 'Stranger Danger'; 'Just Say No'; even 'The Birds and The Bees'. The problem was that she wasn't in Illinois anymore. She wasn't even at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning anymore. She was literally a room away from her boyfriend; and with her powers, locked doors and walls of any thickness were no obstacle, they were practice. Her first night at the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House she had slept in his bed and it had felt so right to be there next to him as they slept.<p>

Only yards away and yet still so far. She liked Lance... She didn't always like his attitude towards the law, but she loved - she loved - how willing he was to fight when he thought something was unfair or unjust. She liked the way he didn't back down when he thought he was right and the way he could take charge of a situation and show no fear, how he looked out for the rest of the Brotherhood - his family...

More importantly, maybe, she liked their banter; their closeness... She liked the way he held her as they sat on the couch when the Brotherhood was watching something on TV, the way he carried her books in school like someone out of an old pop-love song, the way he held her hand when they walked... No, there was no 'maybe' to it, she liked the way he made her feel special - not because she was a mutant or because she had a high I.Q., things that everyone else had always focused on - but because she was Kitty Pryde, his girlfriend and a member of the Brotherhood.

All of which made the feeling when they had to part ways at the end of the night and go to their own seperate rooms that much more painful. It always felt like something was missing whenever they were apart like that...

'Like peanut butter without jelly,' Kitty giggled as the thought occured to her.

Kitty's sixteenth birthday had been only weeks before she had left the Institute and it felt like ages, meaning that the next two years until she was eighteen and they wouldn't have to part would probably feel like it'd take forever. 'Just Say No' wasn't perfect, even with 'The Birds and The Bees', Kitty had discovered; Lance Alvers was like a drug and she was most definately hooked, every night she had to fight the temptation to repeat that first night, she had the powers that would let her...

But Lance made her feel special, and that always stopped her; he made her feel special and she wanted times when they were together to be special too. She didn't want to sleep beside him so often that it lost that feeling of happiness and safety that it gave her, as though nothing in the world could touch her as long as he was with her.


End file.
